MONSIGNOR FRANCIS GERARD GILLGANNON

Monsignor Francis Gerard Gillgannon, 75, of Kansas City, MO, died Saturday, June 5, 2004, at St. Joseph Health Care Center, Kansas City. He was born on May 13, 1929 in Kansas City, the son of Dr. Matthew Aloysius and Josephine Marcella Donovan Gillgannon. One of eight children, he had two brothers who joined him in the diocesan priesthood, Father Patrick J. Gillgannon who preceded him in death, and Father Michael J. Gilgannon currently in La Paz, Bolivia; and one sister in religious life, Sister Mary McAuley Gillgannon, RSM, of Omaha, Nebraska. He is survived by twelve nieces and nephews. He attended Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis Xavier, and St. Aloysius Grade Schools in Kansas City; St. Johns Seminary in Kansas City; St. Louis Preparatory Seminary and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Kansas City on April 3, 1954, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception by the Most Reverend Edwin V. OHara, Bishop of Kansas City. Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, 2004, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph with the Most Rev. John R. Gaydos presiding and preaching. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, 2004, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Memorials are suggested to Little Sisters of the Poor, 8745 James A. Reed Road, Kansas City, MO 64138; or a charity of the donors choice. Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Those wishing to send condolences or tributes to the family may do so at www.dulletrimble.com. His first assignment was as associate pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in Marshall. Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Jefferson City in 1956 and Father Gillgannon became a founding father of the new Diocese. Bishop Joseph M. Marling, CPPS, selected him as an instructor at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal from 1959 until June, 1962, when he volunteered for missionary work in Peru, serving both in Puno and Nasca until October, 1970. After returning to the diocese, he served in temporary assignments at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary and St. Patrick, Gravois Mills, until February, 1971, when Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe appointed him as pastor of St. Joseph Church, Pilot Grove. He was appointed rector of the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Jefferson City, on May 25, 1973. In 1982 he was assigned pastor of St. Peter Church in Marshall and Holy Family, Sweet Springs, until June 21, 1989. He was pastor of Annunciation Parish, California, until July 1, 2002. Monsignor entered into retirement on July 1, 2002, with residence at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Jeanne Jugan Center, in Kansas City, MO. He served for four years on the diocesan Priests Senate. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Catholic Missourian. He was active in the Marriage Encounter movement from 1975 to 1980. He served as Dean of the Jefferson City Deanery from 1974 to 1978, and as Dean of the Marshall Deanery from 1983 to 1985. Monsignor Gillgannon served as a Pro-Synodal Judge since 1983; was an elected member of the Ministry to Priests Committee since 1998; the Diocesan Representative to the Ethics Committee at St. Marys Hospital since 1994; and an appointed member of the Presbyteral Council since 1998. Bishop John R. Gaydos appointed him Director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Activities Commission on September 1, 1999. On February 4, 2000, he was appointed as a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II.